Thursday afternoon was absolutely gorgeous here. The weather was unusually cool at about 75 degrees, the sun was out, and it wasn’t raining, so I absolutely had to take a short walk outside. My time was limited so I didn’t go to Gothe or any of the trails. I went into my own yard. It’s always surprising what you can find in your own yard if you keep your eyes open. In my case, I found several interesting pollinators including this Larra bicolor wasp. These wasps have a really interesting history. These wasps are not actually native to the United States, but instead come from South America. They were imported into this area because they are parasitoids of invasive mole crickets.

The adult wasps eat nectar, but the larvae eat mole crickets. A female wasp will sting a mole cricket and temporarily paralyze it. While the mole cricket is unable to move, the wasp lays a single egg in a soft area. After the egg hatches, the larval wasp begins feeding on the mole cricket, eventually killing it. There are two types of mole crickets living in Florida. One is native, the other is not. The non-native species causes serious damage to crops and lawns. Interestingly, the Larra bicolor wasp attacks only the non-native species. These wasps were originally imported into Puerto Rico for the same reason. They were so successful that they were later imported into the southern United States. Many times, using one non-native species to control another results in disaster, but in this case it has worked out well.